Traditionally, when moving from one location to another, a person must (i) empty his/her books from a bookcase or shelving in which the books were being displayed at the one location, (ii) pack them in suitable cardboard or other boxes for transport to the new location, (iii) unpack the books placing them on the bookcase once it has been moved or on shelving at the new location, and (iv) dispose of or store the boxes. The process, which for most people is not very enjoyable, can be rather time consuming.
To reduce the time and hassle related to moving, college students and younger apartment dwellers are known to store their books in “milk”-type crates, which can be stacked with the open side up for transportation and flipped over so the front side is facing forward and stacked on top of one another when they arrive at their new residence to serve as make shift bookcases. Unfortunately, these crates are typically poorly sized for the space efficient display of paperback books, and the crates themselves are not particularly attractive. Further, they often lack the structural integrity to allow more than three crates to be stacked on top of one another particularly if the crates have relatively heavy hardcover books stored therein. Further, if stacked three or more crates high, the resulting tower is not very stable as the crates are not physically coupled and are subject to shuffling and possibly tipping over.
Numerous bins and crates that can be stacked and include an interlocking feature have been proposed. See U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,322,118 ('118); 4,660,725; 5,038,937; 3,512,696; and D322,745. Specifically concerning books, the '118 reference describes a stackable box for both transporting and displaying books. There are, however, deficiencies to this system that make it undesirable. First, to transport the books a user must slide a cover over the front of the box to hold the books in place. The cover is stored adjacent the back of the box when the box is being used to display books. During transport, it is reasonably expected that the books will shift and move and most likely cover at least portions of the groove into which the cover is stored. Accordingly, the user will likely have to re-arrange the books once the box is placed at its new location so that the cover can be fully slid into the provided storage groove. Second, the boxes are interlocked by way of dowel pins on the tops of the boxes and recesses located on the bottoms of the boxes. A box full of hard cover books can be very heavy and aligning the recess of an upper box with the dowels of a lower box can be very difficult. Finally, the dowel and recess interlocks only prevent the upper box from moving laterally relative to the lower box, but the upper box can be separated from the lower box if the upper box is subjected to vertical forces, such as might be encountered if someone accidentally bumps against the stacked boxes.